Saturday, February 22, 2014

Last Days of School

Remember what the last days of school before summer break felt like when you were a kid? Oh, it was glorious, wasn't it? Soon to be free of responsibility, worry and homework. Warm days of freedom, fun and frolicking were around the corner.

Ending my first year teaching here in Thailand is sort of a long, drawn out affair. Friday before last was my last day actually teaching material. This week has been about review and doing final exams. Next week, the students take their finals for the rest of their classes, and we foreign English teachers sit in our office all week doing nothing. That said, the year is pretty much done. It's a different feeling than the euphoria one feels as a student for the end of the term. Being on the other side of the desk, the end of the school year is the loss of your job, the end of your role. Away from school, even on the weekends, in this last year, my mind never traveled that far from the classroom. I'd think of this or that and how to apply it to my upcoming teaching. I'd have ideas, and I was always working on my craft. There was always an upcoming opportunity to apply my ideas in a teaching situation. Now, I can't say for sure when I'll be standing in front of students again. See, thing is, if I don't teach, I don't get paid. I don't get paid, I can't eat. School starts again in the middle of May, but my (expiring) contract doesn't pay me for this time off. I'm a bit worried, but not in panic mode. I've already sent out my resume to a few places, stopped in and cold called a few language centers I'd want to work at, and tomorrow, I have an actual interview lined up. Thing is, all the kids' schools in Thailand are off in March and April, so any employment I get during that time will either be with a language center teaching adults or in another country. None of them want to hire someone just for two months. Consequently, if I do find work, it pretty much precludes me from returning to the gig I've enjoyed this last school year. I knew this in the back of my head these last two days, that this might be the last time I'm going to see these students for whom I've felt a duty towards as their teacher these last 10 months. I got a bit choked up. Got a knot in my throat. The video below is a revised version of something I posted a couple days again and have since deleted. You really can't do hidden-camera stuff with children and then post it on YouTube, particularly if that potentially makes them 'lose face'. So, in this revision, everyone knows they're being recorded, hence the dancing around in front of the camera stuff.

3 comments:

My fingers are crossed for you that you can find some position that will allow you to return to teaching. You are so good at it. I know that you'll be good at whatever comes your way, I think it would be a shame for you not to be teaching those young men.